The story behind THAT Nino Schurter photo

This is one of the most iconic images of mountain bike racing in recent years. Nino Schurter whipping it out for the crowds in Val di Sole back in 2015.

Nino is probably the fastest, and certainly the most stylish, rider on the XC circuit — he’s bagged four World Championships, taken home the World Cup overall on four separate occasions and he won the 2016 Olympics. Talented, likeable and hard as nails.

Here’s Nino’s own personal take on this famous image…

Nino Schurter: “This whip shot that Michal Cerveny took of me last year at the World Cup finals in Val di Sole is by far my favourite race shot of all time. People might wonder why the hell I’m pulling out whips in such important races. The answer is, I just like playing around with my bike, and a whip to me is the most stylish way to express all the fun that mountain biking has to offer. World Cup races are getting more and more demanding from a technical perspective: we’ve had descents that reminded me of downhill races — which is cool. And the majority of the riders are becoming better and better from year to year. However, playing around with the bike can’t hurt — we shouldn’t always take everything too seriously.

Even though this shot is not 100 per cent sharp, Michal’s understanding of mountain biking meant his timing was spot-on and shows the full expression of the whip. And he was the only one who got it right — the spectators left and right, the technical sections of the run still visible, the action… the whole composition of this photograph is just perfect. By the way, I won that race, and I won the World Cup overall that day as well. It was the perfect race. I just love what I do.”